Earth-boring machine



Sept. 9, 1924.

J. M. HUMISTON EARTH BORING MACHINE Filed May 13. 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Sept. 9 192 4 J. M. HUMISTON EARTH BORING MACHINE Filed May 13. 1921 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 9. 1924. 1,507,776

J. M. HUMISTON EARTH BORING MACHI NE Filed May 13. 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 5Sept. 9. 1924.

J.M. HUMISTON EARTH BORING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 13. 1921Patented Sept. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES JOHN M. HUMISTON, OF BERWYN, ILLINOIS.

EARTH-BORING MACHINE.

Application filed May 13, 1921. Serial li'o. 469,126.

Letters Patent of the -United States No.

1,114,477, of January 9, 1912; to provide improvements in theconstruction of various parts of the device; to provide means adaptedfor greatly extending the utility of the device, both as to variety offunctions and efliciency in performance; to provide a more convenientand eflicient arrangement of parts, with a view especially to boringholes and setting telephone poles beside a roadway with the truck insubstantially its normal traveling position; to provide mechanical meansof automatically adjustable character for holding the drill motor frameagainst rotating, so as to relieve the drill attendant from a veryarduous task; and to provide an improved form of auger capable ofcutting frost and frozen ground, or frost as it is often called.

In using the hole digger and pole erecting device of my said priorpatent it was necessary to head the truck toward the work, owing to theposition of the derrick on the front of-the truck, and this usuallynecessitated working the truck around to a position crosswise of theroad. This was often inconvenient, especially on narrow country roadsbordered by deep ditches, and at best was wasteful of time and labor, ascompared with my improved device herein described.

The device as a whole consists of an air compressor plant connected tothe motive power source of a self-propelled vehicle,

said plant having associated with it the following units:

(1) A rotary air drill motor to be used for turning an earth auger,operating a winch, operating a rotary cutter for cutting asphalt orconcrete, or turning a concrete mixer v r p (2) An air hoist to be usedfor ralsmg or lowering the earth auger, for raising poles, for raisingor lowering supplies of any kind, which it is desired to handle in thatWay, for moving earth in back filling, for

handling concrete either in mixing it or placing it;. 3

(3) A pneumatic pump, to be used for pumping water out of manholes orout of ditches under construction; i

(4) A pneumatic sprayer for spraying paint upon poles, buildings,vehicles, and bridges;

(5) A pneumatic sand blast for cleaning iron work, cleaning off oldpaint, scrubbing vehicles, et cetera; and,

(6) A derrick for the convenient handling and coordination of the otherelements of this device.

For instance, in the operation of the earth anger, the rotary air drillattached to the auger is suspended from a rope passing over a sheave inthe end of the derrick boom. The other end of the rope is attached tothe piston of the air hoist. The operation of the earth auger consistsin alternately applying the air pressure to thecylinders of the an drilland to the air hoist, the first effecting the rotation of the augeruntil'it is full of earth and the second raising of the auger to a pointwhere it may be emptied. v

The motor-truck is arranged so that'an apparatus commonly known amongmotor vehicle men as a power take-off may be connected to thetransmission case in such fashion that at the will of the operator itcan be kept running at all times whenever the motor or engine isrunning, whether the motor vehicle is traveling or not.- This powertake-off is connected to suitable transmission devices so that it can begeared by belting, chain and sprocket, or other means to an aircompressor. The air compressor is furnished with a regulating device orso-called unloading device which operates to serve as a safety valvewhenever when necessary, to a tank or air receiver. This tank isconnected through piping with the regulating device on the compressor sothat the tank pressure controls said regulating device.- Connectionsfrom this tank also extend to a central point near the foot of the mast,where, as will be more fully explained, pipe connections are afi'ordedfor a hose extending and connected to a rotary air drill, a hoseextending and connected to an air cylinder hoist, and a hose extendingand connected to a reciprocating air drill, such as may be required forexcavating rock.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Fi 1 is a plan of an autotruck embodyingt e improvements of this invention, with the derrick swung outwardsomewhat for boring a hole beside a roadway.

Fig. 2 is aright side view of the device with the derrick boom swung toits normal position, parallel with the body of the truck.

Fig. 3 is a left side view of the device.

Fig. 4 is a section at 4-4 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 shows the boom joint.

Fig. 6 is a section at 66 on Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a top plan of the frost auger.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the frost auger.

Fig. 9 shows a modified derrick detail.

In the construction shown in the drawings, the autotruck 1 includes abody part of platform 2 on one side of which about midway of its lengthis mounted a derrick 3 secured to a rigidly mounted cross frame 4. Powermeans are provided for operating the derrick, including a pneumatichoist cylinder 5 and an air supply tube 5' leading to the storage tank6, which is supplied by an air pump 7 operated by the power source ofthe truck.

The derrick proper includes a mast member 8, which is substantially apart of frame 4 and a boom 9 swingingly mounted at its lower endat thebase of member 8. Tackle and fall means 10 extend from the top of mast 8to the extremity of boom 9 whereby the inclination of the latter may beadjusted from time to time as may be required.

A (power cable 11 operated by the air cylin er 5 extends by the way ofsuitably arranged pulleys to the base of boom 9, thence to the outer endthereof, and downward to support the pneumatic motor 12 adapted foroperating the twist drill or auger 13.

Laterally disposed means 14 are provided for securing the frame of motor12 against the turning on its vertical axis which would otherwise resultfrom the torque or mechanical reaction relative to drill 13. Said means14: is in the form of a torque arm or yoke including an extensible baror shank part secured atone end to the boom 9 adl n t the mast, as by acombined swim} and hinge joint 15, the opposite end being bifurcated andthe arms 16 and 17 being secured to motor 12 by the arms 12 and 12'f onthe opposite sides thereof. The yoke 14 is adapted for both telescopicand swivel action whereby its length is adjusted automatically accordingto the inclination of boom 9 relative to the perpendicularly-supporteddevice 12, and the auger may be swung sidewise. Hence the stifi'er outersection 14' is free to turn axially on the smaller inner section 14", sothat the motor and drill or auger attached thereto may be tilted in anydirection, as for drilling at an angle.

A pneumatic tube 18 extends from the tank 6 to the motor 12 forsupplying the necessary power to operate the drill or auger 13. One ormore racks 19 are. provided on the platform 2 for supporting anassortment of drills, angers, and such other tools as may be required,as shown at 20.

In order to more rigidly support the derrick when in use, a pivotallymounted hearing 21 is provided directly under the mast member 8 at thelower edge of the downwardly extending vertical frame part 4'. Saidmember 21 is cam-shaped and comprises a relatively shallow part 22 and adeeper part 23 with a curved convex bearing surface extending from oneedge to the other so that when the support 24 is released the cam may beadjusted to bear directly on the ground. r

The boom 3 is of telescopic construction so as to be shortened, ifdesired, as when the truck is moved on the road. The smaller outer part25 slides into the thicker mner part 26. The outer end of thepart 26 sslotted longitudinally on one side and 1s provided with clamping means27 secured by a bolt 28 for locking the outer sect on of the boom inplace. Supplementing this bolt 28 is a clamp 29 secured to the outerpart by a bolt 30. The mast 8 is secured in vertical position by staysor guy members 31 and 32.

Though the main use of the above-described derrick device is for boringholglslgt is also used advantageously for han g materials, andparticularly for raising telephone poles and the like in the process ofsetting same in the holes which have been drilled. In order that thederrick may be thus used for raising poles and the like, th drill motor12 is swung to the rear of the truck where it is lowered into place forsupport on the bracket means 33, whereupon the tackle fall 11 isdisconnected from the motor supportin loop 34 and a chain 35 or othersuitable p0 e gripping means substituted therefor, as illustrated inFig. 9.

In the modified arrangement of derrick parts shown in Fig. 9, thepneumatic lift cylinder 36 is secured at its lower end to the inner a d0f the boom nd the fixed end of the cable 11 opposite from chain 35 issecured in the hand Windlass 37, also secured to the boom adjacent toits inner end. Said Windlass 37 serves to adjust the effective length ofthe cable 11, takes up the slack and may supplement the lift 36 where along ran e pull is necessary. In this instance, the cab e 11 runs over apulley 38 mounted adjacent to the outer end of the boom 3.

The cable 10 for raising and lowering the boom has one end secured tothe becket of the outermost pulley over which it travels,

and the opposite end is arranged to bewound upon a hand Windlass 39 foradjusting the inclination of the boom.

In order to facilitate boring holes in the earth when the ground isfrozen, a special form of earth auger is used, as illustrated in Figs. 7and 8. This frost auger'comprises a central core shaft or bit member 41,the upper end of which serves as a shank 42 to be engaged by the drillchuck of motor 12, and the lower end is provided with a screw tip 43 forentering the ground. A casing member 44 is disposed symmetrically aboutsaid central member, which casing comprises a pair of segments 45 formedintegrally with a orizontal top member 46. On the upper side of the topmember is an upstanding collar 47 rigidly secured to the bit member 41.A pair of vertically disposed shafts 48' are rotatably mounted onopposite sides of the casin member, the lower ends of said shafts beingprovided with inclined interchangeable cutttng blades 49 disposed toengage the earth in a downward direction as the auger rotates clockwisefor boring. The upper end of each of said shafts is provided with acrank arm 50 for oscillating the shafts. Movement of said arms inwardlyserves to throw the cutters at the lower end of the shaft inward,whereby upon attaining a sufficient depth the auger may be caused toundercut the lump of earth contained within the casing sufliciently tocause it to break away easily when the auger is raised. Said arms 50 areactuated by links 51 extendin inwardly to a disk 52 pivoted horizonta yon the bit shaft 41.

Actuating means for turning the control mechanism above described, isprovided, comprising a hand wheel 53 having a screw shank .set in anupright bracket 54 fixed on part 46 and operatively connected to saidplate by a tension member 55 tangentially related to the disk andconnected thereto, said tension member being in the form of a helicalspring. A lock is provided to secure the disk in a fixed position,comprising a swingingly mounted latch 56 pivoted in an upright securedto a bracket 57 set on the horizontal part 46 of the casing. When thefrost auger is to be used, the disk 52 is so positioned that the cuttersare disposed in a normal operating position with their cutwhereupon thetension of the spring 55 rotates the disk and the links 51 pull the arms50 inwardly. thereby swinging the cutters centrally so that as the augercontinues to rotate the block of earth will be undercut and releasedready for removal by hoisting the auger. o

In order to carry the motor 12 more securely when traveling along theroad it may be supported 'on the bracket arms 33 with the arms 12' and12" resting in the sockets 33", instead of hanging the motor on the poleand hook device 33 above. mentioned. When the motor is hung by its loop34 on the hook of bracket 33 the torque yoke 14 is retracted and swingsbelow the motor. In order that said yoke 14 may swing horizontallyrelative to the boom 3 it is provided with a vertical joint 15' at itsbase. This permits the boom to swing freely for general work when theboring apparatus is hung on its bracket and the yoke 14 is stationary.

Although but one complete specific embodiment of this invention isherein shown and described, together with modifications of certainparts, it is to be understood that some of the details may be altered oromitted without departing from the s irit of the invention as defined bythe f0 owing claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a truck, a derrick mounted on one side thereof,tackle for said derrick, a motor suspended adjustably for raising andlowering by said tackle, torque resisting means laterally connectingsaid motor to said truck and a downwardly facingvertically axeled tooloperatively connected to said motor for engaging the ground.

'2. In combination, a truck, a laterally swinging derrick mounted on oneside thereof, tackle for said derrick, an outwardly hung motor suspendedadjustably on said of the. derrick and at its other end to the frame ofsaid power auger to prevent rotation of said frame.

4. In combination, a truck, a power motor having an earth auger attachedthereto, derrick and tackle means for adjustably supporting said motorand auger, and a forked yoke for steadying the frame of said motoragainst turning, said frame having oppositely disposed horizontalhandles to which the branches of said yoke are pivotally connectedrespectively, and the opposite end of the yoke being pivotally supportedrelative to the truck to permit the yoke to swing with the derrick.

5. In combination, a truck, a power motor having an earth auger attachedthereto, derrick and tackle means for adjustably supporting said motorand auger, and a forked yoke for steadying the frame of said motoragainst turning, said frame having oppositely disposed horizontal armsto which the branches of said yoke are pivoted respectively, and theopposite end of the yoke being pivotally supported relative to the truckto permit the yoke to swing with the derrick, said yoke having atelescopic joint and being freely extensible.

6. A derrick truck having power operated interchangeable derrickattachments, including earth boring augers, a pneumatic piston foroperating the lift cable, and a hand Windlass for adjusting the slackand for supplementing the lift of the piston.

7. A device of the character described, including a truck having a frameprovided with a laterally positioned derrick, and a supporting campivoted to said frame and arranged to swing down to bear upon the groundfor supporting said frame and derrick when the latter is in use.

8. In combination, a truck, a derrick thereon, an earth auger suspendedfreely in a pendulous manner on said derrick for swingng in anydirection, a source of power on said truck, means to transmit drivingpower therefrom to said auger, and means on which the torque efiort mayeffectively react in driving the au er.

Signed at C icago this 11th day of May 1921.

JOHN M. HUMISTON.

